


Epiphany

by Lauren (notalwaysweak)



Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2013-04-24
Packaged: 2017-12-09 09:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notalwaysweak/pseuds/Lauren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raj, Stuart, and mistletoe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Epiphany

**Author's Note:**

> The Big Bang Theory characters do not belong to me. Originally posted to the BBT kink meme [here](http://bbt-kink.livejournal.com/538.html?thread=635930#t635930).

The first time they go to see _The Hobbit_ there’s a group of annoying pre-pubescent boys in the row behind them and no matter how often Sheldon shushes them they just keep kicking seats, running up and down the aisles, and throwing popcorn. They take off before the end, screeching all the way, and Sheldon half rises out of his seat to go after them, he’s so incensed, but Amy and Raj hold him down. Raj has to apologize to Stuart for leaning across him to grab Sheldon’s wrist, but Stuart just shrugs.

“You’re not the one ruining the movie,” he says, or something like it; Raj can’t quite make it out with his head pressed against Stuart’s chest, but he can hear Stuart’s hummingbird heart.

A few seconds later Stuart’s fingers nudge against his lips; Raj recognizes the shape of a Raisinet and opens his mouth, sucking it out of Stuart’s fingers, accidentally licking his fingertips in the process.

He stays where he is right through the credits even though he doesn’t exactly need to, and Stuart’s fingers revisit his lips every couple of minutes with another sweet treat.

* * *

They have Christmas decorations up even though neither of them is Christian because Raj has a thing for flashing lights and tinsel and general holiday bling. On the twenty-seventh they start taking things down and packing them away.

“What exactly is this meant to be?”

Raj turns around from removing the reindeer antlers from atop the television and sees Stuart frowning up at the silvery sprig hanging over the couch.

“Oh. Um, mistletoe.”

Stuart reaches up, his t-shirt riding up to show a band of pale bare skin at his waist, and pulls it down. “We’ve sat together under that how many times and you haven’t kissed me once? You have no sense of tradition,” he says, tossing it into the box of decorations.

Raj’s mouth goes dry. All he can think of is the taste of Raisinets and Stuart’s fingers. Stuart keeps moving around the apartment, saying something about Christmas being easier to clean up after than Halloween because at least there aren’t spiderwebs everywhere, and Raj can’t move at all because he’s afraid that if he does he’ll grab the mistletoe back out of the box and make good on the last three weeks of not kissing his roommate.

And really. He’s being silly. Stuart’s got to be joking.

It doesn’t make the fact that they share a bed any easier. He’d felt bad about making Stuart sleep on the couch, in the beginning, and then one night they’d gone out to dinner after work, come home more than a little drunk, and fallen asleep side by side in the bed, not touching, but all the same as if Stuart was meant to be there.

* * *

Friday’s one of Stuart’s late nights at the store and, acting on impulse, Raj takes dinner in to him; steaming hot pizza that Stuart can eat between customers, who are few and far between anyway. Stuart’s wary of getting cheese on the merchandise so Raj produces a stack of napkins.

“You think of everything,” Stuart says admiringly.

“I haven’t dusted the apartment for two days,” Raj admits.

“It looks fine.” Stuart’s mouth hovers open for a second as if he wants to add something to the end of that sentence, an endearment maybe, and then he shoves another mouthful of pizza into it, ending the quandary. Raj doesn’t know what to say so he goes to check the batteries on the display robots and change out the ones on the TARDIS cookie jar that’s going _vir-vir_ instead of _vworp-vworp_ when opened.

The store’s Christmas decorations are still up and he notices a sprig of mistletoe over the counter. He’s willing to bet that Stuart doesn’t point it out to people like Captain Sweatpants, although as he watches Stuart does glance up at it and then at him.

He’s starting to suspect Stuart might, just might, have some kind of thing for him. What surprises him is that the notion isn’t entirely unappealing. God knows he had enough weird bromance shit going on with Howard to be familiar with the feeling of wanting to get closer to a friend.

He doesn’t know how to ask, though. He doesn’t know if the words would come out right or whether he’d sound like a complete idiot.

He opts for silence. Stuart just eats his pizza and watches him flit around the store and says nothing.

* * *

Raj thinks that if anything’s going to happen it will happen at the New Year’s party at Penny’s place, but at midnight she goes around and kisses all the boys, including Stuart – including _Howard_ , for that matter – and then goes around again and kisses the girls. Amy looks like the happiest person out of the group. Stuart looks a little stunned. Raj knows how he feels.

* * *

Sometimes when they’re watching television together he lets his hand slip along the back of the couch and just lightly ruffle Stuart’s hair. It’s almost like petting his dog, except that Stuart leans into the touch in a way that the dog doesn’t, and also he doesn’t have dog food breath, the few times they end up close enough to establish such a fact.

* * *

Stuart announces he’s going into the store on the following Sunday afternoon.

“What for? It’s not a delivery day.” Raj waves the latest _Batman_ by way of emphasis.

“No, but it’s the sixth of January, and that’s when I usually take the decorations down – then, or whenever there aren’t customers underfoot.”

“Do you want help?”

“That would be nice.”

They drive over to the store in awkward silence. Raj doesn’t know what Stuart’s thinking about but he personally is thinking about that mistletoe hanging over the counter.

In the end it’s the last thing to come down. Raj clambers up on the counter to unhook it from the ceiling and then dangles it over Stuart’s head, and Stuart gives him an _are you sure?_ look, and Raj closes the already minuscule distance between them and.

Stuart’s lips are dry and uncertain and Raj coaxes them apart with his tongue. Stuart makes a wild needing noise and presses Raj back against the counter. Raj drops the mistletoe to wrap his arms around Stuart, kissing him hard to make up for all the times he could have and didn’t, for all the times he considered it and backed away. Judging from Stuart’s ardent response, it’s exactly what Stuart’s been wanting this whole time as well.

“So...” Raj says when he pulls back at last.

“So?”

“Maybe we should go home and make out on the couch for a few hours.”

“I don’t know about _hours_ , but somewhere without a giant window onto the street would be good,” Stuart concedes.

“Consider it done.”

“About time,” Stuart says, and Raj has to kiss him again just for that.

* * *

It ends up being hours, after all. They have a lot of catching up to do.


End file.
